Various Bioactive Questions

[FrankAbell]

This is my first bioactive enclosure and I have some questions about how to maintain it

My main question is how should I mist it, as far as soil I have terra firma from TheBioDude. I’m not sure if that changes anything but what does matter is that I have a bottom of the line mister with the options of 15, 30, 45,and 60 seconds
In intervals of 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours and I’m at school most of the day so I can’t change times or run it twice or three times to do more or at least until I can’t until I get home. My other question is if y’all know any tips with bioactive cages and any of the basics. if you know something tell me, I’m fine hearing the same thing multiple times but just want to know more, Thank You!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Bioactive isn't my thing, but there's enough about it in the archives to choke Godzilla.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/search/1554168/?q=bioactive&c[title_only]=1&o=relevance

Similar site search on Goggle:
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=bioactive+site:www.chameleonforums.com

 

[FrankAbell]

Thank you

 

[bbyoda]

There is a ton of great info in the archives for sure. Regarding your question about misting - you might need to experiment a bit based on your setup and where you're located. You want to mist in the morning before your lights come on, enough so that water drips down from the plants in the morning for your chameleon to drink off of. You want the cage to dry out completely between listings. You don't want the soil in the bottom to become waterlogged and rancid (this happened to me once for a smaller enclosure...not fun).

There are a few variables you can employ to find the balance:
1) change soil to quick drying, adding sand to your mix of Terra firma
2) place very thirsty or leafy plants in the mister's spray, like ferns, so they soak up most of the water and just a bit falls down below
3) mist less and fog in the evenings to keep your chameleon hydrated and humidity levels up

I'd say start with less misting and bump it up as you go if needed. You can always supplement with a dripper or watering can if your plants need more or your Cham needs more. What you don't want is to overdo misting and ruin your bioactive soil base.

My two cents. Not sure how that works out with your mister but you could connect the mister to an appliance timer that only turns on during the intervals you want - that's how I have my fogger set up since it doesn't have a minutes timer.

 

[bbyoda]

Some additional advice:
- live plants only will help soak up water and keep humidity levels up, seems like you might have some fake leaves in there
- more horizontal branches, use zip ties to tie to the branches you already have
- using the double pot method, zip tie pots of plants up top so theres some coverage up top as well
- put feeding dish within eye level / range of basking branch

 

[DocZ]

This is my first bioactive enclosure and I have some questions about how to maintain itView attachment 316146My main question is how should I mist it, as far as soil I have terra firma from TheBioDude. I’m not sure if that changes anything but what does matter is that I have a bottom of the line mister with the options of 15, 30, 45,and 60 seconds
In intervals of 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours and I’m at school most of the day so I can’t change times or run it twice or three times to do more or at least until I can’t until I get home. My other question is if y’all know any tips with bioactive cages and any of the basics. if you know something tell me, I’m fine hearing the same thing multiple times but just want to know more, Thank You!

Is your mister the reptirain or the monsoon? You can regulate the times by putting it on a timer. Set your duration and turn the unit on. Then just connect it to a timer that will come on for a minute or two whenever you want to mist, then turn the unit back off. It should go off at your scheduled times rather than the programmed intervals.

I can see the reptirain in the picture. The timer will work fine for this unit

 

[FrankAbell]

Thank you for all the good info, I appreciate it

 

[Lindasjackson]

It looks like you have a lot of moss stuffed between the bioactive bag and the screen. I’ve heard that this isn’t good as it can grow bacteria. Also live feeders may get down into that and die and cause problems as well as if your Cham goes chasing a cricket or something in the moss he may ingest some moss that can lead to impaction.